A barn fire, also known as a farm fire or stable fire (especially when horses are affected), occurs when a barn or stable at a farm for the keeping of livestock catches fire, and is partially or wholly destroyed. This can lead to the death of animals, release of toxic fumes, and financial and material damage for insurers, owners, employees and nearby residents.
Belgium Overview of problems According to Prevent Agri, there are still too few precautions taken against barn fires in Belgium. Often there are no fire extinguishing devices present, and other safety measures are often foregone because of the financial cost to the livestock company, and one usually does not take potential accidents into account in administration. Nor are there a reliable statistics on accidents, because CEOs are not obligated to register them; only employees do.
On 10 May 2011, Flemish MP Hermes Sanctorum (then a member of Groen!) asked Flemish Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture Kris Peeters how many barn fires had occurred in the previous years and how many animals had died as a result, and whether, and if so how, the Minister was planning to take measures against it. In June, Peeters responded that there had been 143 barn fires in all of Belgium between 1 May 2006 and 1 May 2011; in 62 of those cases, animals perished. The death toll was 192,862 animals, including 27,851 pigs, 196 cattle, 164,000 poultry (rounded estimate, mainly chickens), 8 horses, 7 goats and a few rabbits. Of all fires in Belgium, about 4% was a barn fire, which were mostly caused by electricity, overheating or short circuits in machines. The Royal decree of 19 December 1997 regulates the fire safety of buildings; on 15 August 2009, it was expanded with appendix 6 which regulates the fire safety of industrial buildings, including buildings for the purpose of commercial animal husbandry. Although appendix 6 contains stricter fire precautions than existed earlier, it only applies to newly built barns; barns built prior to 2009 are not yet required to comply with the new regulations. Peeters closed by mentioning several potential safety precautions, but said that fire safety was a federal competence (and thus the Flemish Government did not have the authority to take additional measures).
Major barn fires Reported barn fires in which over 1,000 animals died include: 7 July 2014: 60,000 layer hens died in Merksplas. 21 January 2017: 4,000 pigs (3,000 piglets and 980 sows) died in Aartrijke. 31 May 2017: 26,000 chickens died in Oud-Turnhout. 16 December 2017: 2,000 pigs died in Grammene in the municipality of Deinze. In 2020 at least 70,460 animals died in eleven barn fires, among which 68,502 hens and 1850 pigs.
Canada Overview of problems The Canadian Coalition for Farm Animals evaluates that 610,000 farm animals died in fires between January 2015 and October 2018, including 5,000 cattle, 13,000 turkeys, 82,000 pigs and 450,000 chickens. National statistics about the cause of fires are not being kept, but the province of Ontario reports that 40 per cent of barn fires for which the cause can be determined are due to the deterioration of electrical systems, which can be severe in an environment with dust, humidity and corrosive gasses. The building codes of several provinces do not currently require barns to have heat detectors and alarm systems. The provinces base their own codes on the National Research Council's National Farm Building Code. A new version of the Code is planned for 2020, but may not include additional safety systems, as barns are considered "low occupancy" buildings. In any case, only new constructions are required to apply new standards. In addition, fire prevention standards are included in the voluntary codes of practice published by the National Farm Animal Care Council, which are frequently put into practice by producers.
Animal deaths usually attract little attention from the media beyond local outlets, unless they involve pets or horses.
Major barn fires Reported barn fires in which over 1,000 animals died include: 13 March 2015: 100,000 chickens died in Saint-Bernard-de-Michaudville, Quebec. 25 March 2015: 2,200 pigs died in Kola, Manitoba. 17 April 2015: 3,000 pigs died in Ste. Anne, Manitoba. 6 September 2015: 22,000 chicken died in Zorra Township, Ontario. 27 December 2015: 3,000 pigs died in Plessisville, Quebec. 2 January 2016: 50,000 ducks died in Racine, Quebec. 8 February 2016: 6,500 chickens died in Sainte-Famille, Quebec. 17 March 2016: 4,000 ducks died in Saint-Camille, Quebec. 27 September 2016: 45,000 chickens died in Busby, Alberta. 16 November 2016: 27,000 hens died in Terrebonne, Quebec. 17 January 2017: 17,000 chicken chicks died in Shefford, Quebec. 1 February 2017: 4,000 pigs died in Plympton–Wyoming, Ontario. 10 August 2017: 4,000 pigs died in Watford, Ontario. 4 December 2017: 4,000 hens died in Elgin, Quebec. 11 April 2018: 14,000 chicken chicks died in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. 27 May 2018: 3,000 pigs died near Otterville, Ontario. 5 June 2018: 12,000 pigs died in Rosetown, Saskatchewan. 29 June 2018: 60,000 hens died in Rivière-Héva, Quebec. 15 October 2018: 30,000 chickens died in Sheffield Mills, Nova Scotia. 11 December 2018: 1,300 pigs died in Quinte West, Ontario. 29 June 2025: 27,000 chickens killed in a fire affecting three barns near Langley, BC.
Germany Overview of problems In Germany, fire alarm systems and fire sprinkler systems are mandatory.
Major barn fires Reported barn fires in which over 1,000 animals died include: 15 March 2017: 300 sheep, 500 lambs, 80 cows and 6 horses died in Elpersbüttel after a farmer's son played with fire in the barn. Animals poisoned by smoke in the adjoining barn in all likelihood had to be culled as well. 8 June 2017: 8,000 turkeys died in Borken, near Dutch Aalten.
Netherlands Overview of problems
Causes and effects Livestock barns tend to be very prone to fire because of the presence of dust, straw and manure gases, while barn roofs are often made of highly flammable pur foam, enabling fire to spread rapidly. Air washing installations, which have been mandated by the government since 2012 for many animal husbandry companies in order to reduce ammonia emissions, are flammable because of electricity. Moreover, the air ventilation system of air washers can fan the flames. The fact that animals often have no place to flee in order to escape from a fire, and the fact that chicken's feathers are highly flammable themselves, further increases the risk of fatalities. The huge increase in so-called "mega-barns" (featuring large numbers of animals packed together in a single building) from 2005 to 2013, which complicate the isolation and extinguishing of fires, also drives up the number of victims per catastrophe. All these factors combined resulted in the deaths of well over a million animals by barn fires in the Netherlands between 2006 and 2011. Finally, many animals that survive a barn fire may be so poisoned by smoke that they still need to be culled anyway.
Safety precautions and governmental policy Because of a lack of safety precautions and government-designed regulations, many barn animals die which could have been saved. For example, emergency exits, sprinkler and alarm systems can be installed. Some livestock farmers don't do this, however, because it often costs a lot of money and is not obligatory. As of 2011, according to the Dutch building code (Bouwbesluit), animals had the same status as office supplies and machines, and did not require extra protection.
The Dutch government, in cooperation with farmers, insurance companies, fire brigades and the Dutch Society for the Protection of Animals, enacted the Action Plan Barn Fires 2012–2016 'to considerably reduce the amount of barn fires and animal fire victims'. The Building Code was amended in 2012 and again in 2014: henceforth, new barns had to be built using fire-resistant materials and fire compartments, and there had to be firewater present. However, the action plan appeared not to work: the number of barn fires and animal victims rose even further. Besides, the new fire safety requirements only applied to barns built after 2014; older barns (15,500 of the circa 16,550) remained just as unsafe as before, and in the 2014–2017 period by far the most fires occurred in barns constructed before 2014.
By 2017, there was still no requirement for the installation of fire alarm and sprinkler systems or emergency exits for animals. Amongst others, the Wakker Dier foundation and the Party for the Animals (PvdD) campaigned for even stricter measures and requirements in July 2017. However, a motion to that effect, tabled by Esther Ouwehand (PvdD) and Dion Graus (PVV), was voted down by a parliamentary majority of VVD, D66, CDA, CU and SGP. Farmers' lobby group LTO Nederland opposed obligatory sprinkler systems, arguing these were allegedly insufficiently tested and too expensive, particularly for smaller enterprises, and because 'most barns would never experience fires anyway'. LTO was convinced that barns had become safer since the action plan's introduction, but was puzzled why the number of barn fires and victims had only increased afterwards.
In 2018, the Action Plan Fireproof Livestock Barns 2018–2022 was launched, a sequel to the Action Plan Barn Fires 2012–2016. In the new action plan, the emphasis is on improving the fire safety in existing barns. Activist group Varkens in Nood ("Pigs in Distress") objected against the optional nature of the proposed measures, and called for extra legal demands.
Since 2009, the Dutch inventors Peter Berlang and Sjaam Hira, in collaboration with the Southeast Netherlands fire brigade and Wageningen University, developed the cable system Stable Safe. Because firefighters usually took twenty minutes to reach a burning barn, while the animals inside could be dead within ten minutes, this system was invented to let the animals escape the building automatically in the event of a fire. As soon as fire is detected, all the dividers and doors fall open and the livestock can escape outside. The system, which would cost each farm about 10,000 to 20,000 euros, was presented to the Dutch Parliament in 2015. In a test run, 65% of pigs fled outside, while the rest started to wander about. The researchers expect that, in a real fire scenario, 90% of the pigs would run for it. It would probably not work for chickens, however; when in fear, they tend to lie down flat on the ground. Just like in pigs, cattle often do not immediately flee when danger presents itself; on the other hand, horses do. After a devastating 2013 barn fire, the Spoordonk pig breeder Kees van der Meijden claims to have built 'the most fire-safe barn in all of Europe' employing numerous measures against emergencies, including a condensation apparatus that allegedly worked better than sprinklers, and trains pig farmers on how to best conduct their profession.
In 2016, a farm in Echt, belonging to the only pork production chain in the Netherlands with a triple star rating from the Dutch Society for the Protection of Animals's "Beter Leven" certification mark, experienced a barn fire, but because the pigs could escape the building, none of them died.
Public debate